The Cross River State Ministry of Health has suspended an unauthorized medical outreach organised by Lucklife International in Calabar, reiterating that all medical outreaches and public health interventions in the state must obtain prior approval from the Ministry before commencement.
The enforcement action, carried out on Friday at 101 MCC Road, Calabar, followed the directive of the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Henry Egbe Ayuk, as part of the Ministry’s ongoing efforts to strengthen regulatory oversight, safeguard public health and eliminate unapproved healthcare activities. The outreach was shut down pending formal clearance by the Ministry.
Leading the enforcement team, the Director of Medical and Dental Services, Dr. Stephen Agbor, said the Ministry acted promptly after receiving reports of an unapproved medical outreach.
“We received a report that there was an outreach going on here without authorization from the government. Unapproved healthcare services constitute a form of quackery, so we had to intervene immediately and stop the activity,” he said.
Dr. Agbor explained that the organisers were directed to immediately halt all services and report to the Ministry of Health to regularise their operations in accordance with extant regulations.
“We instructed them to shut down the outreach and apply formally to the Ministry of Health. No medical outreach of any nature is permitted in Cross River State without prior approval from the Ministry,” he added.
The Ministry advised residents of Cross River State to be vigilant and avoid participating in unauthorized medical outreaches, warning that the quality, safety and standard of services provided at such programmes cannot be guaranteed since they have not undergone the Ministry’s regulatory scrutiny. It noted that patronising unapproved medical outreaches exposes members of the public to avoidable health risks and urged residents to verify the approval status of any medical outreach with the Ministry before accessing its services.
Following the suspension, representatives of Lucklife International met with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Jonah Bassey Offor, to brief the Ministry on the organisation’s operations and submit relevant product information for review.
Speaking after the meeting, the company’s Marketing Representative, Mr. Theophilus Okoye, said Lucklife International is a duly registered health and wellness network marketing company operating in Nigeria and more than 108 countries. He disclosed that the organisation would formally apply for the required approval before undertaking any future outreach in the state.
Okoye added that samples of the company’s products and other relevant documents had been submitted to the Ministry to facilitate regulatory assessment and informed decision-making on its application.
By Kingsley Agim
